Valley Gardens shortlisted for Tesco bag grant

Tesco has teamed up with Groundwork on its Bags of Help initiative, which will see three community groups in the region pick up a grant of either £12,000, £10,000 and £8,000 – all raised from the 5p bag charge.

An in-store ballot will be held from September 26 to October 9 to help decide which group receives which grant - and the Friends of Friarwood Valley Gardens is now hoping Pontefract shoppers will step in to help.

Colin White, chairman, said: “We have already restored the Rose Garden and Sensory Garden, installed a children’s playground and renovated the former aviary. Reinstalling the outdoor stage was next on our list and we are very pleased to have obtained the funding to pay for it.

“Obviously, the more funding we get, the better the result will be; £8,000 will pay for the stage, but an extra £4,000 will go a long way towards a canopy over the stage. When the stage is in place next year, we hope to have more events in the Valley Gardens involving a variety of local performance groups.”